


Pliability

by Black_and_Grey



Category: All Elite Wrestling, Professional Wrestling
Genre: Awkwardness, Blood and Injury, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Light Angst, Light Dom/sub, Rated E For Later, Romantic Comedy, Wrestling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:55:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29384490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_and_Grey/pseuds/Black_and_Grey
Summary: “Emily moved to sit the test kit down when she noticed Chuck was not alone in the room. Orange Cassidy was on one of the beds, lounging back with his legs stretched out and a video game controller in his hands. Normally she would take people to task for having others in their rooms before getting the test results back. However, she found out pretty early on that these two actually lived together, so she let it slide. His room was next door and she had watched him do a self-swab a few hours earlier. Plus, if she was honest with herself, she was maybe (definitely) crushing on him just a little (a lot).”Emily is a nurse and physical therapist for AEW and had barely been on the job before the pandemic hit. With no prior knowledge of how the business works, Emily learns as she goes in a situation that is not normal by any means. As a mostly easy-going person who is a bit of a flirt, she has no problem making friends with her co-workers. However, a growing crush on Orange Cassidy, who seems to be flirting right back, has her in a tizzy and contemplating ideas that she had never really explored before.
Relationships: Orange Cassidy/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is obviously a work of fiction and I don’t own anything other than the ideas in my head. Sometimes I feel like I don’t even own those. This could also be read as a self-insert as there aren’t a ton of physical descriptions of Emily (by design)
> 
> Updates will be every 3-4 weeks because, unfortunately I have to go to work 40+hours a week.

Emily Harris never expected that she would get used to sticking the world’s largest q-tip into the base of her brain every week. Yet here she was, taking a deep breath before slowly pushing that cotton swab up her own nose for the 3rd month in a row. After a few fits of sneezing and even more tears, she finally put the swabs in the plastic bag and sat it in the test kit box, which then went outside her hotel room door. It would be collected by one of the lab techs and she would then have to wait about 12 hours for her results. Once cleared, she would gather up her belongings, put on a ridiculous amount of PPE and start testing everyone that worked for AEW. It’s the same thing she’s done since March and, if the expert predictions were correct, would be something she will do for many months to come.

As a Nurse Practitioner, Emily was responsible for some of the lesser serious issues that popped up during any AEW event and a designated backup in case there was an issue with either of the two doctors on staff. In addition to that, she had earned her doctorate in physical therapy while in med school, so she often spent time with the athletes whenever extra hands (literally) were needed . But since the beginning of the pandemic, her duties now included handling the covid testing the day before the show aired. Emily liked staying busy, so the extra work was no big deal. All that it meant is that she came to work a day earlier than usual, but that was nothing seeing as she had no responsibilities at home (husband, kids, pets) that competed for her time.

At first, tensions were high and there was very obvious fear and trepidation with many over the pandemic. Now, everyone had grown accustomed to the “new normal” which had caused the testing process to be less contentious and in turn eased some of her own anxiety. She would go door to door, leaving a small bag of swabs and tubes, knock and then step about 10ft away. The person would open the door, take it and do the test while she watched to make sure they were doing it correctly. Most folks had mastered the skill of self-swobbing by now, so Emily only had a few regulars that she had to get up close and personal with; some crew, a ref and a handful of performers were included in this.

After she finished collecting samples from the 4th floor she looked at the list again. The only person left was one of the wrestlers: Chuck Taylor. Actually it listed his real name, but she had grown accustomed to calling everyone by their performer name. It just made it easier, especially at first. She often would use google to peek at the roster to put faces to names and then again to put fake names to real names.

Arriving at his room, she knocked and announced herself. “I’m here to pick your brain,” she yelled at the door, smiling to herself. The first time she had to help him, he had said the exact same phrasing. It stuck with her.

Chuck opened the door smiling and stepped aside for her to come in. “Man, you’re suited up even more than usual.”

Emily instinctively looked down at her current attire. “Better safe than sorry,” she shrugged, walking in. It was true, it was safe but it was damn sure uncomfortable. Never in her life had she ever had as much upper lip sweat as she did now. The culprit of course was her N95 mask that was covered with a second cloth one. That, paired with her face shield, tinted eyeglasses, a set of goggles, and her gloves made for a pretty ridiculous look. Like something out of a sci-fi film.

Chuck had already moved to get in position for the test by sitting in an office chair that he pushed all the way up against the wall. Both of them learned that this was the easiest way from day one, seeing as how Chuck was going to be involuntarily moving his head a lot and the fact that he was literally a foot taller than her. Emily moved to sit the test kit down when she noticed Chuck was not alone in the room. Orange Cassidy was on one of the beds, lounging back with his legs stretched out and a video game controller in his hands. Normally she would take people to task for having others in their rooms before getting the test results back. However, she found out pretty early on that these two actually lived together, so she let it slide. His room was next door and she had watched him do a self-swab a few hours earlier. Plus, if she was honest with herself, she was _maybe_ (definitely) crushing on him just a _little_ (a lot).

Emily did not watch wrestling prior to taking the job. Of course she was aware of it, having heard of people like the Rock, The Undertaker and Steve Austin back during the boom of the late 90s. It was just never her thing. But when she found out that she had been offered the position, she spent the 3 weeks before starting to take in as much of AEW as possible. As a former high school theater kid, it didn’t take long for her to understand the appeal. It was when she watched the Casino Battle Royal for Double or Nothing in Vegas that she first saw Orange Cassidy. He was in the ring for all of 60 seconds, barely grazing his foot against another guy before getting thrown out of the ring. She thought nothing of him until she got to All Out, where he made his official debut. He took a dive to the outside, rolled back in the ring and kipped up all while never taking his hands out of his pockets. She was hooked almost immediately without knowing anything about him. As she progressed into those first few months of Dynamite, she started to adore Best Friends along with Orange and her fascination grew into a full on crush. Which was ridiculous seeing as she had never even met the man yet.

Anyone could see that many on the roster at AEW were aesthetically pleasing. Hell, she would need to borrow some fingers and toes just to count them all. Emily remembered her first day on the job and doing a literal double-take when she saw Hangman Adam Page in person. The wrestler had clearly just arrived at the arena, as he was dressed casually in jeans and t-shirt. His curly blond hair was pulled into a small bun and he sported a pair of black rimmed glasses, while pulling a roller suitcase. Clearly the camera was kind to him, but it did not compare to how...pretty he really was. He looked like a fucking Disney Prince. All it took was a small smile and soft “hey” as he passed her on his way to the locker room to have Emily thinking about what song they could dance to at their wedding. She had shaken the intrusive thoughts away and vowed to be a professional, goddamn it. It didn’t take long for her to become (mostly) immune to all the gorgeous faces and hard bodies surrounding her. Once it had, she learned that Adam was already married, a sweetheart and absolutely hilarious. She now thought of him as like a little brother and one of her favorite coworkers.

Not to say that she hated anybody that she worked with, but naturally there were some folks that she clicked with and Hangman was one of them. Once she met Chuck, Trent and Orange she knew that they would eventually be in this category as well. There was some uncertainty initially, as all three men were surprisingly sort of shy and reserved. Emily, however, was very good at putting people at ease so it didn’t take long for the jokes and conversation to become more natural and way less formal even with the growing and (hopefully) inconspicuous crush she had on Orange. Emily was also a natural flirt, so crush be damned, she loved any chance she got to talk to him and the others. Unfortunately, the pandemic started just 10 weeks after she began traveling with the company so any after work socializing was very limited. All that meant was that she had to get her flirting and ribbing in whenever she could.

Like right now for example.

“Well, you look awfully comfy,” she said to Orange. “Whatcha playin?”

“FIFA,” he answered simply without looking away from the TV.

“Fun. What team are you?”

“Arsenal.”

“Wow. Slow down dude. I need to take in this...just absolutely riveting conversation,” Emily said sarcastically.

“Homie’s just pissed because he keeps losing to some 11 year old in Germany,” Chuck laughed.

Emily rolled her eyes and started to pull out the long cotton swabs. “Hey, you’ve got no room to be trying to clown anyone about some kid being better than them. May I remind you that I’ve had kids as young as 8 be able to do their own swabs.”

Orange snickered and Emily felt a swell of pride.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up and let’s get this over with,” Chuck huffed but there was no malice in his tone. He leaned his head back against the wall.

“Wait, you really have to do it for him?” Orange asked. “I thought that was a joke.”

“Oh yeah. There’s not many, but there are some that just can’t do their own. It’s no biggie,” she confirmed, finishing the setup. With one hand, Emily proceeded to start the test, moving very slowly, well aware of what happened every single time she had done this with Chuck. The other hand was placed lightly on his forehead. Sure enough, she had barely gotten into the nostril when Chuck was clearly about to start sneezing. She instantly stopped moving the swab and put more pressure on Chuck’s forehead, forcing his head to remain in the same position. He sneezed 3 times before she started to move the swab again. She could feel his whole body tense up as she got as far as she needed to go.

“Alright. 15 seconds,” she told him. She tightened her hold on his head when another sneezing fight started before the 15 seconds were over. Finally, she quickly pulled the swab back out and put it into the tube.

“Jesus, Dustin,” Orange muttered.

“Fuck off. I can’t help it,” Chuck replied, tears welling in his eyes and sniffling.

Emily, trying to maintain some sense of professionalism, didn’t laugh but couldn’t resist throwing a little fuel on the fire. “Did you know that anytime I have to administer a test to someone, I have to then take ALL of this gear off and put it into a biohazard bin and put clean gear on before seeing the next person?”

“I did not. Wait...are you trying to make me feel bad?”

“Of course not, just stating facts. Ok, you ready for part two?”

The same thing happened with the other nostril and she did her best to keep from laughing. Finally she pulled the second swab out and placed it in the tube. Chuck started another round of sneezes.

“ _À tes souhaits_ ,” she said, patting him on shoulder. It was something she often said to Chuck after testing.

“What does that mean?” Orange asked.

For a second Emily had forgotten that he was also in the room. She turned to face him, clearing her throat before speaking. “Oh, uh, It’s what the French say after someone sneezes. It means ‘to your wishes’.”

“You speak French?” he asked without looking away from his game.

“ _Juste un peu_ ,” she answered “Just a little bit. Had it in high school then took 4 semesters of it as my elective in undergrad. Forgot a ton of it once I got into medicine.”

“I know like two phrases I learned from tours in Canada,” Orange remarked.

“Oh? Do share,” Emily prodded.

“Uh... _comment allez-vous. Merci beaucoup. Je non parle en francais. Oú sont les toilettes?_ Oh and _je prend le vin rouge.”_

“Not bad. But it should have been “ _Je ne parle pas francais_ ”. And man, how much wine were you drinking to remember that one?” Emily asked with a smile.

“Yo, I thought you just knew that one phrase. I didn’t know you could like, legit speak it. Quit battin’ your lashes at Jim and say something about me,” Chuck demanded.

She faltered. This was the first time Chuck had ever joked about her flirting with Orange.. She scoffed at him and said “You can’t even see my eyes, much less my lashes.”

“Whatever. Come on, say something cool!”

“Ok. Um...,” she started. She took in his appearance and did the mental checklist of grammar in her head. “ _Tu es un homme grand et beau aux cheveux bruns. Tu es...umm... gentil, drôle et .._ uh _...avez un sourire fantastique._ ”

Chuck just smiled. “All I heard was ‘fantastic’ so I’m gonna assume you said something good.”

Emily chuckled. “I said that you were a tall and handsome man with brown hair and that you are nice, funny and have a fantastic smile.”

At that moment, she wished she had been recording that whole interaction. Chuck’s grin softened ever so slightly and he began to blush. A sense of accomplishment and pride washed over her and she looked back over to Orange, who had stopped watching the tv to watch her instead.

“Cool,” he said before turning his attention back to the game.

“Thanks.” She began gathering her small test kit and heading toward the door. “These should be back in the morning. I will text you your results.”

Chuck shot up from the office chair to get the door for her. “Hey...uh...did you really mean that?”

Emily was taken aback. “Well yeah.”

He was blushing even harder now and she felt a little guilty for the lack of equal transparency. See, while she could see him completely, he could not read any of the expressions on her face due to the protective gear. Pinching his cheek was her initial thought but this was the covid-19 era and the whole “touching faces” thing wasn’t really a good idea. So instead she poked him in the belly.

“Don’t get a big ass head over it,” Emily ordered, pointing a finger in his face. “That thing is hard enough to control as it is.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Good. I’ll talk to you later. You two behave.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not beta'd. Also don't expect frequent updates. I am just uploading what I have proofread so far.

Over the next few weeks, Orange always just happened to be in Chuck’s room when it was time for Chuck’s test. Emily wasn’t exactly sure why, but she enjoyed getting to see both of them before the hustle and bustle of the live show took up most of their time. Unlike that first time, Orange was sure to stop whatever he was doing to give his full attention to them, offering completely useless advice or just half-hearted words of encouragement to Chuck. He had even started to ask Emily medical questions about random things that popped into his head. 

_“What’s earwax made of?”_

_“Uh...mostly a secretion called cerumen and then dead skin cells.”_

_“Why do guys have nipples?”_

_“The nipples form in the embryo before a specific sex does.”_

_“What’s the strongest muscle in the human body?”_

_“Um..your jaw.”_

All of them were very similar to some of the questions she had gotten from small children, but he didn’t need to know that. He always seemed genuinely curious and often it led to him and Chuck having weird-ass conversations. Emily couldn’t help but find it oddly endearing. And that sort of thing was not helping her little crush in the slightest. 

Still, her little infatuation didn’t stop her from treating him the same as everyone else. Junior High taught her the lesson that a different disposition around anyone she _liked_ liked was a dead giveaway. Now, Emily was quite adept at maintaining her composure in almost all situations. There was just one thing that she was unable to control; the blushing and flushing of her cheeks. Embarrassed, nervous, excited, flirtatious...it didn’t matter. That face would pink right up. Luckily, the layers upon layers of personal protective equipment concealed anything her otherwise disloyal face would reveal. 

She thanked the universe for this silver lining of mandatory face coverings when she went into Chuck’s hotel room one day. Chuck was in his usual sports Jersey and gym shorts. She looked around and didn’t see Orange. 

“Where’s your other half?” she asked, sitting the test kit down on the table.

“Greg? Probably asleep in his room,” Chuck answered, getting into his normal position. 

“No, I mean your other _other_ half.”

“Little OC? Bathroom.”

Emily just nodded and began prepping the testing instruments. She had just pushed Chuck’s head back up against the wall when she heard the bathroom door open. 

“Aww you guys startin without me?” Orange asked. Emily turned around and any witty answer she was going to hit him with evaporated. He was slipping on a plain white t-shirt,but all Emily could focus on was the movement of the muscles underneath his taut skin. The blood in her veins seemed to polarize almost instantly, one half rushing to the north to her face, the other down south to her pelvis. Which made no goddamn sense, a little voice yelled in the back of her mind. He wrestled without a shirt. Hell almost all the guys did. She had seen this many times before. Yet this...this felt different. More intimate? She caught herself biting her lip and began to dismay before she remembered that nobody could see her mouth. Or her cheeks. Or her eyes, really. Silver lining indeed. Then the moment was over, the shirt was on and he walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. “Did I miss anything yet?”

Chuck rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you keep doing this. Are you some sort of weird nose pervert?”

Emily laughed. “Are you talking to him or me?” She didn’t really give him a chance to answer before putting her hand on his forehead and holding him against the wall. “Alright Chuckie, you ready?” She started the test like normal - swab in, hold his head against the wall and brace for sneezes, swab out, more sneezing - except this time, after she took the swab out Chuck sneezed rather violently. Blood started to pour from his nostril and Cassidy immediately panicked. Chuck didn’t even realize he was bleeding until seeing his worried friend’s face. He swiped at his nose and looked down to see the bright red blood. 

“Uh...Emily? Am I gonna die?”

Emily reached a gloved hand out and pinched the bridge of his nose tight. “Calm down. Lean forward.” She turned around. “Orange, will you get me something for the blood? Toilet paper, napkins…” She lost her train of thought because instead of running to the bathroom to get said suggestions, he quickly pulled his shirt off and thrust it into Chuck’s bloody hand. The absurdity of his action canceled out any inappropriate thoughts that surely would have erupted in her mind. “Yo. What?” Is all she could say as Chuck put the white shirt up to pinch his nose so that she could let go. 

Orange at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “I don't know! It’s the first thing I thought of!” He picked up a random shirt from Chuck’s bag and put it on. It was at least a size too big and looked quite strange on him. She just shook her head and brought her focus back to Chuck. 

“You’re gonna be fine. This is a common side effect. Usually happens when the nasal passage is exceptionally dry before a swab is taken. Just keep that pressure on it for at least 5 minutes.” Emily cleared her throat and turned back to Orange. “Will you go in the bathroom and grab a washcloth and get it soaking wet with cold water? If you guys have any ice in here that would be even better.” Orange did as he was asked and brought the wet cloth to her with a few pieces of ice. “Good. Thank you. Chuck, it’s gonna be cold, so brace yourself.” She put the icy cloth on the back of his neck. She felt him jump but otherwise didn’t squirm. 

“What does that do?’ Orange asked. 

“Well, officially...nothing. There’s never been a real study on it. At least not even to confirm it. But it’s an old home remedy of sorts. Usually you would use car keys or a butterknife to be really authentic but we gotta improvise.” The poor blond man looked completely confused. “It’s the cold. Cold metal in particular. There are numerous accounts of folks whose parents passed down the little secret remedy to them. I’ve personally been doing it ever since I was a child. So I’m giving it a shot on him.”

“Oh yeah! My mom used to do that with my brother. She’d use a spoon she kept in the freezer. But you’re like...a real medical person. Shouldn’t you be using a Doctor Approved method?” Chuck asked.

“Hey man, there are things in this world that are unexplainable. If it’s non-lethal, ethical and fast I’ll give almost any home remedy a shot,” she shrugged. 

She continued to hold the cloth for a few minutes before checking to see if the bleeding had stopped. 

“Am I good?” Chuck asked. 

“Yep all good. Just remember if it starts again to not blow your nose, lean forward not backward. Light pinching pressure on the bridge of your nose.”

“Gotcha. Thanks Emily.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

“Why not?”

She held up a clean nasal swab for him to see. “I still have to do the other nostril.”

  
  


  
On show days Emily usually wandered around to see if anyone needed her help but once it was time for the show to start, she spent almost all of her time in a reserved medical room mostly alone, waiting on standby if something happened. The past several tapings had been (thankfully) quiet when it came to injuries. She settled into a squishy black office chair, watching the closed circuit feed of the ring when Dr. Sampson buzzed in her earpiece. 

“Hey Emily?”

“Go ahead,” she replied. 

“Can you head toward ringside and be in standby mode please? We are running a bit behind back here.”

“Wait, really? The show hasn’t even started yet.”

“It’s just a precaution. First segment is a promo with Archer. He and Cody are gonna scuffle a bit. Either one or both of us should be finished near that end of that.”

“Copy that.”

It had been quite a while since she was beckoned to be out in the arena area in case of an emergency and she was a little excited. Obviously she didn’t want anyone actually getting hurt. She wasn't a psychopath. Yet the idea that _if_ something happened and she would be called into action was exhilarating. She put on her purple and black star print facemask and quickly headed to Gorilla to check in with everyone and let them know what was going on. She stopped at the “head table” to let the bosses know first. Tony Khan was there of course, along with Cody dressed in his ring gear. Lance and Jake Roberts were a few feet away, waiting for their cue. 

“Hey Emily,” Tony greeted. It was difficult for her not to be intimidated when talking to a man roughly the same age as her who was literally a billionaire. Despite that fact that he was undoubtedly the most powerful person in the entire building, he was still such a friendly guy. He insisted that nobody should feel the need to call him Mr. Khan. 

“Hi Tony. Cody,” she responded. “Sampson radioed me. He and Chris are preoccupied with a few folks and it’s gonna take a little longer than they anticipated so I’m gonna be out at ringside until they are done. They said it shouldn’t be longer than the first segment.” She pointed a finger at Cody. “So please be extra careful with whatever you are doing with Lance. I can pick you up if I absolutely needed to, but Lance would probably snap my spine,” she joked. The reality was if something did go terribly wrong and they needed to get someone out of the ring or building there was a team of EMT’s available to help.

Cody smiled. “Hey Lance, Emily said we have to be extra careful since she’s gonna be ringside. So we gotta cancel that super dangerous high spot we had planned where you give me a double spanish fly from the balcony.” Tony laughed and Lance shot her puppy dog eyes, which looked absolutely ridiculous on the 6’8 man. The nurse rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t even know what that is but it sounds ridiculous. And fake,” she said. Someone shouted from behind her that there was just 3 minutes til they went live. “Alright. I’m heading out there. Wait...can I go through the tunnel?”

Cody laughed. “Sure. But you have a big decision. You going face or heel?”

Emily did an incredibly quick round of eenie-meenie-miney-moe and landed on the unofficial “heel” tunnel. 

“Ooooh interesting,” Cody commented before she headed towards the entrance, power-walking through the tunnel and then down the stairs to her spot behind the timekeeper’s table. She let the folks there know what was up and within a minute the show had gone live. The first segment went fine - despite Cody getting thrown over a barricade and Lance getting “choked” with his own braids. They had just started to air a video package about the tag team division when Sampson came over the radio again to let her know they were almost finished and should be out there before the end of the next tag match. 

The next segment was Jurassic Express vs. Best Friends. She was only slightly nervous, as Jungle Boy was the one most likely to bust out some “flippy doo” shit. When the Best Friends entrance music started, Emily couldn’t help bobbing her head along the beat. Orange emerged behind the boys of course, sporting a denim face mask. Chuck and Trent got in the ring and Orange lumbered near the time keepers table. Noticing Emily sitting there, he lifted his Ray Bans and winked at her. If you could call what he did a wink. More of an exaggerated blink, really. Emily just shook her head while rolling her eyes. 

Once the match began, she was hyper aware of the voices on the radio, warning of upcoming spots. She could tell they were getting toward the end when she heard “Ok Fenix out to attack OC from behind.” Emily watched as Cassidy stepped back up on the stage, looking ready to attack when Rey Fenix came running out of the “heel” tunnel, jumping up high and just absolutely nailing Cassidy with a kick to the side of the head. She audibly gasped. Either she just witnessed the most realistic fake kick in the history of wrestling, in which Orange deserved an EMMY, or it was a spot that went a little harder than necessary. She stood up from her chair, ready to run into action if waved over by Ref Aubrey. Thankfully Orange was moving and talking but she was still quite antsy to check him out herself. It was then that Dr. Chris came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Hey. I’m here now. You can go do eval on Cassidy.”

She nodded and used the off-camera staircase to head backstage to intercept him. Sure enough, within a minute he came walking through the tunnel looking only slightly uncomfortable. Chuck and Trent were not far behind but they were stopped by some of the Production Assistants. The Best Friends glanced over at Emily, who was reaching out to take Orange by the elbow. 

“He’ll be with me,” she called out to them before leading Orange down the hall. 

A planned spot can go south real quick. Accidents happen all the time and that’s what this was. An accident. That didn’t stop her from being absolutely furious. She was pissed at Fenix for doing it and Orange for agreeing to it. She practically kicked open the door to the medical room, led Orange to a chair and - with a firm hand - guided him to sit. Slipping on a pair of vinyl gloves, she plopped down on a rolling stool directly in front of him. She closed her eyes, pushed her floral patterned glasses up the bridge of her nose and took a single deep breath before starting the concussion questions. Her aggravation must have been very apparent because about half way through checking his pupils and asking things like “When’s your birthday?” he reached out and gently nudged her hand down. Confusion quelled her irritation for a moment. 

“Emily. Chill,” he smiled, reassuringly. “I’m ok.”

She huffed and stopped the questioning. Realization hit her that this was the closest she’d physically ever been to him sans his aviators. Actually, it was the closest she had been to him at all. Her body was still buzzing with the combination of anger and anxiety but now a keen curiosity had entered the mix. Trying to keep her concern (and libido) at bay, she exhaled deeply and steeled herself before resuming. Unfortunately, this caused her glasses to fog almost immediately. Before she could wipe them off, Cassidy reached out and slid them up onto the top of her head. 

“Thanks,” she managed to squeak out. “Alright. I’ll calm down. But I still have to do the whole shebang,” she said, waving the little pen light around. “I’m gonna have to get all up in your business for it.”

Instinctively, Cassidy widened his legs allowing her to slide in between them to get closer. That simple, innocent little movement sent a zap straight down her spine to her belly and she swallowed thickly. Pulling on every bit of self-control she had, she used her index finger to lightly tip his chin up to get a good look at his pupils. Selfishly, she held eye contact a few seconds longer than she needed to, under the guise of evaluation. His light blue eyes looked a little glazed but otherwise normal. She took in his long but light eyelashes, the shape of nose and the fair facial hair that framed his slight smile. 

Nothing sounded better that moment than grabbing his dumb stupid face and kissing him on that dumb stupid smile. Goosebumps appeared on her skin, and while she acknowledged that this was an involuntary action resulting from her dumb animal brain’s imagination causing a rush of dopamine to be released, it didn’t take away from the fact that she very much wanted to caress his cheek. Maybe run her fingers through his hair, press her lips to his...

Suddenly, a loud beeping snapped her out of it and they both looked around for the source. It was the high heart rate alert from her stupid, traitorous apple watch. The look on Cassidy’s face was a mixture of curiosity and mild concern as he clearly saw what the alert said. 

“It happens,” she quickly lied. “I’m agitated and it's hot as hell back here.” She lowered her gaze down to his hands, trying to think of anything to change the subject, and frowned at a small cut and a bruise beginning to form on the side of his thumb. Spinning around and rolling a few feet away, she grabbed some supplies from the counter to clean it. 

“Is this from you trying to catch your fall?” He nodded. “I guess I don’t have to tell you to brace yourself for the sting. I’m sure you’ve had to do this plenty of times,” she said, mostly just thinking out loud. “But I’ll try to be quick and gentle.”

“Quick AND gentle? In my experience, you can have one or the other but not both, baybee” Chuck laughed, having just walked into the room. “What’s the status of little OC here? He gonna make it? That kick was sick. Look.” He turned his phone around to show a gif that had already made its way to Twitter. Whoever posted it had slowed it down to see exactly how hard the impact was. Emily resisted the urge to cradle his undoubtedly sore head to her chest. 

“Pretty sure I saw the future,” Orange grimaced. 

Emily pressed the antiseptic soaked gauze to his injured hand with little finesse at his comment. He let out a low hiss of pain. 

“You saw the future, huh? What happened to ‘hey chill I’m ok’ from like two mins ago?” She questioned, as she started to dry and cover the small wound. She wrapped a small ace bandage around his thumb and secured it around his wrist. 

“Well, I’m ok now,” he clarified. “Right?”

The nurse’s response was to take her gloved index finger and gently touch the area where Fenix had kicked him. Orange winced.

“I don’t know, _are you_?” She asked sarcastically . “Cause you seem awfully tender around the point of contact. After watching it again I’m genuinely surprised you don’t have a fucking Fenix footprint all the way across your melon.” She sighed. “But...you aren’t showing any other signs of a concussion.” Pointing a finger at Chuck she said “You. Keep an eye on him this evening, just in case. I’ll sleep better knowing he isn’t alone.”

“Awww, you hear that, brother? She’s thinking about you while in bed,” Chuck teased. Orange had opened his mouth to no doubt protest Chuck's immaturity but she cut him off. 

“Woah woah woah” she directed toward Chuck. “No need to get jealous..uh... what is it you call yourself? Papa Bear? You know I’ll always be there to cradle your beautiful, giant head and pick your brain whenever you need it. Covid or no Covid.”

The apples of his cheeks turned bright pink and couldn’t think of a good comeback. 

“That’s what I thought. And you...” She turned back to Orange, who had stood up. His jean joggers were sitting low on his hips as he stretched his arms up and behind his head. The flash of skin was like a beacon and Emily’s gaze was instantly laser focused on the v-shaped lines at his waist. Defined veins were snaking up from the band of his black underwear, causing her mouth to water. Realizing her thoughts were turning feral, she quickly averted her eyes back to his face and noticed an obvious smirk and a slight raise of an eyebrow. She had clearly been caught looking. “Hey. Shut up,” she said with no real heat behind it. “How you gonna throw all _that_ ,” she gestured at his whole midsection, “in my face like that and expect me not to look?”

“I didn’t say anything,” he defended, smiling wide. 

“You didn’t have to. Now take Papa Bear and your 36 abs and get out of here. You both know the concussion signs. Call me if you start having any of them. I mean it.” 

“Sure thing mon amieeee”, Orange said, pronouncing the last word the same way he did for his popular “baybee” expression while giving a lazy thumbs up. 


	3. Chapter 3

The following week brought an even more nervous atmosphere. Everyone was exuding extra excitement due to it being the “go home” for Double or Nothing. The excitement skidded to a halt with Emily as she read the tentative card for the show. While it wasn’t a surprise, seeing a Rey Fenix vs Orange Cassidy match listed didn’t please her. Her displeasure doubled when she heard some of the planned details of the match, including a big scuffle with all the ladder match participants at the end. Once she got to the end of the card and saw the outline of the big face-off between Inner Circle and The Elite as a preview for the Stadium Stampede, she was seriously contemplating faking being sick so she could be anywhere except there. 

Out of an abundance of caution, Emily was asked to come sit ringside with the other doctors. There was still about two hours before showtime so she did the same thing she always did before the show: eat. A production meeting meant a deserted catering area so she took advantage by sitting down with her horrifyingly unhealthy burger chips and dessert. She sighed dejectedly and started watching old vine compilations on her phone. A familiar voice cut above the video and she lazily lifted her head to see Adam Page talking to one of the stage hands. Noticing Emily sitting all alone, he grabbed his protein bars and water before dropping down in a chair a few seats down. Bless him for adhering to social distancing. 

“That looks incredible and I am full of rage that I can’t eat that right now,” he frowned. 

“What? This thick, juicy bacon double cheeseburger? Cooked medium well and seasoned just right? With BBQ sauce and pepper jack cheese and grilled onions?”

“Now that’s just rude. You need to work on your bedside manner.”

Emily sneered. “Pfft. No patients right now. I can act like a bitch if I want.”

“What do ya mean ‘act’?” 

“Keep it up and I’ll wax poetic about the decadence of this brownie and ice cream,” she warned. 

“Alright, alright I’ll stop. But seriously, you good? I saw you earlier and you looked a little...I dunno, green around the gills.”

Her face softened at his concern. “Oh. Yeah I’m ok. Just a bit on edge for tonight. I saw the match list and some of the spots and I’m just.. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Last week was stressful enough.”

“Ah. Yeah, your boy Orange got rocked, that’s for damn sure. He said you cleared him though, no concussion.”

Warmth blossomed inside her chest upon hearing that Orange  _ talked _ about her when she wasn’t around. Emily chose to ignore it as well as the fact that Adam referred to Orange as  _ her bo _ y. “He was fucking lucky. I really don’t know how he wasn’t hurt worse.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It happens like that sometimes. The ugliest looking thing could cause nothing more than a headache but then a tiny little move could snap a tendon.”

“That’s what gives me anxiety.”

“What? The potential randomness of an injury?”

“Yes.”

“Well darlin’, you might have picked the wrong place to work...maybe even the wrong field.”

She rolled her eyes. “I love helping people heal. I love working here. I just wish there was a way to insure nobody got seriously injured. Which is impossible I know...I’m just.. I don’t know, talkin’ out loud,” she stated before taking another bite of her burger. 

He regarded her for a moment before asking, “You gonna be ringside again?”

She nodded while taking a drink of her Dr. Pepper. 

“The whole night or just for your boyfriend’s match?”

That Dr. Pepper decided to come right back out, this time through her nostrils. Emily hastily grabbed a handful of napkins and brought it to her nose, grimacing. A coughing fit started, followed by three rapid-fire sneezes, a whine and then a boisterous belch. Adam never even blinked an eye. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said defensively, once she was able to compose herself. “I just don’t want to have to drag him to the med room for the second week in a row.”

Adam finally cracked a smile. “Not your boyfriend, huh? Then tell me, my good nurse, how did you know who I was talking about? I never said a name.”

Emily floundered. “Uh..I.. uh...shut up!” 

“Aww look at your cheeks. You’re blushing! I KNEW you were sweet on Jim!”

“Fuck off! Who...Who the fuck says “sweet” anymore? So dumb...what are you, 73?”

He rolled his eyes and opened one of the protein bars. “Whatever. It’s cute.”

She stared him down for a few tense seconds before relenting and sighed, “Is it obvious?”

“Honestly? Not really. You flirt with everyone,” Adam said. Emily made a noise of exasperation but he kept on. “I was taking a shot in the dark. I was thinking maybe...30/70? But now..I mean you just shot soda out of your nose and then I’m pretty sure your whole body rebooted at the mere suggestion...so I’m gonna amend that to 100% ”

Emily pushed her food away, planted her forehead directly onto the table and groaned before sitting back up straight and clearing her throat. “Could you keep it to yourself? Uh...I’m still pretty new here and I don’t need rumors floating around. It’s just a crush. It’ll pass.”

The sincerity in her voice did not go unnoticed. Adam put on his serious face and with a hand over his heart declared “You have my word. Your craving for the D from vitamin C is safe with me.”

She groaned and threw a handful of chips at him. “You should be ashamed of that. Honestly.”

  
  


—-

  
  


Emily’s mood hadn’t improved by bell time, despite her joking around with Adam. The anxiety within her kept slowly building the longer the night went on. The show was going on without any issues and honestly she sort of wished something, anything would mess up just so the worry would feel justified. Checking her watch, she saw that they were a little past the halfway point of Dynamite which meant it was time for the Orange Cassidy/Rey Fenix match. She could practically feel her blood pressure rising the moment Orange had walked out and Fenix went for a flying kick. Luckily he had stepped back to avoid getting hit but it didn’t ease her worry at all. Sweat trickled down her forehead, the sickening slap of multiple chops echoed in the mostly empty arena and the heat and humidity were overwhelming. She had to get out of there. 

“Doc, am I good to take a quick break? I need some A/C and water.”

Dr. Chris nodded. Both he and Dr. Sampson were at ringside. “Will you bring me back a Gatorade? Grape please.”

“Yep,” she chirped while standing up and speed walking toward the backstage area. She zoomed down the hallway towards the medical evaluation room, already pulling her mask off and thinking how sweet that central air would feel. Busting the door open she found the closest vent and stood under it, trying to catch as much air as possible. The room was much cooler than outside but it wasn’t enough. She peeled off her black AEW staff polo and tossed it on the desk, leaving her in a plain black tank. Spotting a small desk fan on a counter, she positioned it to blow right in her face and decided to recline on one of the exam tables. The cooling sweat on her brow, the deep breaths and the fact that she couldn’t see what was happening in the ring lowered her pulse and she felt less agitated until...

“Emily, what room did you go to?”

It was Dr. Chris over the radio. A profoundly petulant sigh escaped her mouth before she answered. “I’m in med-eval, what’s up?”

“Had some ugly bumps at the end of this match. I’m heading there with Fenix and OC. Stay there and get some ice packs ready.”

Panic was not a strong enough word to describe the feeling that hit her. Her Apple Watch, annoying as it ever was, made sure to inform her that yes, she was most definitely freaking out by beeping loudly due to her increased heart rate. Swearing every swear word she had ever learned, Emily started to get out several different size ice packs and did a quick sterilization of the table she had been laying on. As a precaution, she slipped her mask back on as well as a pair of blue vinyl gloves. The door opened and Doc Sampson came in first with Fenix behind him. He thanked her for getting everything ready and started talking with Fenix and one of the people on staff that could translate. Emily continued to stand there, hands on her hips, waiting for Orange to walk in. 

Well, to limp in more like it. Head hanging low, his bare chest red and sweaty, he hobbled slowly inside the room. When Orange finally raised his head, his eyes widened at the sight of her. He smiled and let out a small chuckle before sitting on the exam table on the other side of the room. 

“I don’t know what you think is so damn funny,” she hissed, low enough that she didn’t disturb the others.

“Nothin’. Just happy to see you.”

If this were any other situation she might have literally cooed at that. However her concern and aggravation were too strong at the moment. Two deep breaths. In. Out. 

“You are so full of shit. What happened?”

“Splash over the top rope to the outside of the ring where everyone was waiting. Got a little too much distance and my leg hit the metal barricade. I’ll be alright,” he explained.

“Yeah, sure. You’re free to go then. But...remind me, Which one of us is a medical professional? Me or you?” He dropped his head and lazily motioned to her. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Now show me where the pain is located. I need to check for bruising.” He waved vaguely around his calf and knee area. “Alright well pull that pant leg up for me.”

“Can’t. Too tight,” he said.

Realization dawned on her that he was going to have to take those jeans off for her to check him over for physical damage. Which wasn’t a big deal. She was a nurse, a professional and she could handle this with no problem. Hell, half the time she’s working and stretching folks who wore teeny tiny trunks and nothing else. This was nothing. Totally innocent. A cake walk. 

“If you can’t roll them up, you’re gonna have to lose ‘em. Thems the rules,” she said, forcing her voice to remain even. 

Orange stood up slowly to slide the jeans off but then remembered he still had his shoes on. When he reached down to take one off, Emily noticed the slight tremor and the tiniest hitch of his breathing. Whichever way he had just positioned himself obviously hurt but of course he just kept on like it was fine. Not on her watch. 

“Nope. Sit back up here,” she demanded, grabbing his hands away from his legs, straightening up his posture. He started to protest. “Ah! You better hush. I know it hurts. So sit down and be quiet.”

He actually did as he was told and a bit of her uneasiness melted away. Trying to remain as formal as possible, she quickly undid his shoes and slipped them off. He stood up again and slid his jeans down past his knees before sitting back on the table and gingerly working them off completely. Emily was surprised to see that under those jeans was just a pair of black Under Armour long johns. And even though the same amount of his skin was covered as before, being able to see the actual..definition under that tight fabric seemed so  _ forbidden _ . A large bead of sweat falling from somewhere around her collarbone down into her cleavage reminded her that she had taken her polo off and was also in a position where more of her was on display than usual. Grabbing at the center of the top hem of her cami, she used the fabric to wipe the sweat away. The movement caught Orange’s attention and she did not miss the way his eyes darted back and forth between her face and her chest before looking down at the ground. A hot flash followed over here again if you asked her, gun to her head, if it was the actual room temperature or the current situation making her sweat she honestly couldn’t tell you. All she knew is that her dumb animal brain wanted to see him  _ seeing _ her. Staring at her. Wanting her. She pushed all of those absolutely inappropriate thoughts away. She was a professional, goddamn it and would not let any level of school girl crush bullshit interfere with his level of care. 

“Do you need help pushing this up?” She asked, taking a seat on one of the rolling stools, pointing to his lower legs. He nodded and she began to carefully stretch the material out and up. In the back of her mind she registered that she had actually never seen his legs before but pushed past it. “Tell me exactly where you feel the discomfort coming from,” she said while gingerly holding his leg by the calf. 

Grabbing her left hand, Orange opted to show rather than tell and placed it on the bothersome spot. Despite the thin layer of vinyl on her hand she felt the heat from the contact and couldn’t help focusing on his obviously strong hand, still flushed red from his earlier exertion. More unseemly thoughts fired around in her head but she again quieted them. She leaned down to examine the area closely for any visible trauma, of which there was none. So she began to slowly poke and prod around, listening carefully to his response. 

“Hold on a second, this will help,” she said, spinning her stool around to the nearby cabinets and rummaging. She spun back around waving a tube of BioFreeze gel. “Are you allergic to camphor or menthol?”

Orange shook his head no, so she proceeded to put the cool gel on her gloved fingers and rub it into the painful area. “I am almost addicted to this stuff,” she said, desperate to make casual conversation while massaging his legs. “I use it like twice a week.”

“For your patients?”

“Nah. For myself. Got some persistent back issues,” she answered. “Physical therapy can only do so much. And I don’t have regular access to a massage therapist because of work and well...covid.”

“Why not just have someone here do it?”

She shook her head and she continued to work the gel outwards just in case the soreness decided to spread. She could feel the muscles in his calf and thigh twitching with every pressured pass of her thumbs. “They aren’t here for me. We are here for all of you. Plus like...a 3rd of time I’m one doing the massaging.”

“I could do it.”

She paused her movements for a split second while the imaginary scenario played itself out in her mind quite quickly. She would be laying face down on her hotel bed while he straddled the back of her thighs, shirtless, rubbing and working deep circles into her bare skin with Zero 7 playing softly in the background and sweet scented cherry almond candles burned on the desk. While her libido was screaming “Yes, oh my god, yes! Come to my room TONIGHT”, the only outward reaction she had was a sort of non-committal hum as she continued pressing her fingers into his skin.

She gently let go of his leg, tossed her gel covered gloves in the garbage and pulled the leg of his long Johns back down. She gave his knee a very soft double pat. “Alright. You’re all good. I don’t see any visual evidence of bruising, but it’s only been a few minutes. Just keep an eye on it. Take this with you in case you’re still sore tomorrow. Let me know if you run out.”

“Thanks,” Orange said as he cautiously stretched his leg out, moving it in tiny circles to test how it felt. “The BioFreeze made it feel better already.” He lazily slid on his shoes opting to just carry his joggers in his hand. He stood up abruptly, leaving Emily no time to scoot back on her rolling stool. Her masked covered face was just a few scant inches from the flushed red skin of his very toned torso. Her whole body throbbed at the mere idea of running her tongue across his abs and she had to spin herself around to get him out of her line of sight. She stood up and took a deep breath before facing him again. He nodded at her before heading to the door. But he paused, turned back to Emily, very obviously shot her elevator eyes and said “Offer still stands” before leaving the room. 


End file.
